Device for transferring railway cars sideways

ABSTRACT

A device is disclosed for simultaneously exchanging individual uncoupled railway cars from a first stationary railway track set to a second set which sets are parallel to each other. The exchange movement is made in a direction transverse to the direction of the track sets and is performed by at least two endless conveyors having selective drive and control mechanisms. Each of the conveyors underlies and supports at least two pairs of parallel rail tracks thereon and moves between a first position and a second position. Each of the conveyors when in its first respective position is effective to align one of its parallel pairs of tracks with the respective stationary track set to receive an individual uncoupled railway car thereon. Each of the conveyors when moved to its second respective position is effective to locate the first mentioned pair of parallel tracks to be in registry with the other respective stationary track set to enable completion of the exchange of the individual uncoupled railway cars.

United States Patent 1191 Kojyo 1 1 DEVICE FOR TRANSFERRING RAILWAY CARS SIDEWAYS [76] Inventor: I-Iisazuchi Kojyo, 2040 Umazima,

Aza, Otsushima, Oaza, Tokuyama, Yamaguchi, Japan [22] Filed: Aug. 12, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 496,797

[52] US. Cl. 104/50 [51] Int. Cl. B61, 1/10;B61J 1/12 [58] Field of Search 104/25, 48, 50, 135; 105/454 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 607,146 7/1898 Turner 104/50 1,550,754 8/1925 Sockman 104/48 1,877,584 9/1932 Pulliam i 104/48 2,976,817 3/1961 Stapp 104/48 x FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 276,190 9/1913 Germany 104/48 959.922 3/1957 Germany 104/48 1,140,688 12/1962 Germany 104/50 8.171 7/1892 United Kingdom 104/48 5] Nov. 18, 1975 Primary E.\'aminerRobert S. Ward, Jr. Assistant Examiner-Andres Kashnikow ABSTRACT A device is disclosed for simultaneously exchanging individual uncoupled railway cars from a first stationary railway track set to a second set which sets are parallel to each other. The exchange movement is made in a direction transverse to the direction of the track sets and is performed by at least two endless conveyors having selective drive and control mechanisms. Each of the conveyors underlies and supports at least two pairs of parallel rail tracks thereon and moves between a first position and a second position. Each of the conveyors when in its first respective posi tion is effective to align one of its parallel pairs of tracks with the respective stationary track set to receive an individual uncoupled railway car thereon. Each of the conveyors when moved to its second respective position is effective to locate the first mentioned pair of parallel tracks to be in registry with the other respective stationary track set to enable completion of the exchange of the individual uncoupled railway cars.

1 Claim, 6 Drawing Figures US. Patent Nov. 18,1975 Sheet1of2 3,919,945

FIG. I.

FIG. 2.

DEVICE FOR TRANSFERRING RAILWAY CARS SIDEWAYS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a device for simultaneously transferring individual uncoupled railway freight cars in a direction transverse to the direction of the railway track.

The shunt movement of a railway freight car from one track to another by a turntable involves a considerable amount of ground area to perform the radial movement and also, the shunting is performed on a one-by-one freight car basis. For obvious reasons, it is desirable that the width of the device in performing the lateral transfer of a freight railway car in a railway yard be as small as possible. That is, the width dimension of the device measured perpendicular to the direction of the track should preferably be much smaller than the diameter dimension of a turntable. Further, the shunting of a .plurality of cars simultaneously in lieu of oneby-one is an advantage in the railway car transfer art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to a device for simultaneously transferring individual uncoupled railway cars in a direction transverse to the direction of the railway track and, more particularly, to a movably mounted platform device for simultaneously transferring individual uncoupled freight cars transversely to the direction of the track.

It is accordingly a primary object of the present invention to provide a device in a freight car marshalling yard to reduce the large amount of ground area necessary to transfer individual uncoupled railway freight cars from one track to another.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a device for simultaneously transferring railway freight cars in a spaced uncoupled position from one track to another.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a device that includes a platform rail structure movably supported on an endless conveyor mounted in an underground recess and drive and control means associated with the endless conveyor to operatively shunt individual uncoupled railway freight cars from one track to another.

These and other objects and aspects of the invention will be more clearly understood from the following description of an embodiment of the invention shown, by way of example only, in the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals denote corresponding parts throughout the several views.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view, principally diagrammatic, of the railway car transfer arrangement in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the conveyor and its associated drive mechanism; and

FIGS. 3a through 3d are plan views of the railway car transfer arrangements, illustrating exchange of two railway cars in a clockwise direction.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In accordance with this invention, FIG. 1 is an overall plan view, mainly diagrammatic, of the device for simultaneously transferring spaced uncoupled railway freight cars from one track to another. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the device is provided with three tandem-arranged conveyors 10, each of which is mounted in an underground recess 12, the depth of which is sufficient to dispose the conveyors below the ground level. The conveyor 10 may be of any suitable construction, but preferably are of the endless belt type. Each of the conveyors 10 fixedly supports thereon a section of railway track, designated as a pair of parallel rails 14, 14. The length of the rail 14 depends on the length of the individual uncoupled railway freight car that is positioned on such rails during the transfer operation.

As shown in FIG. 1 three conventional track sections each comprising a pair of parallel stationary rails 16 are interrupted by the rail-supporting conveyors 10. Each conveyor 10 is provided with three sets of the rails section 14 which are located in a spaced parallel relationship to one another. Each rail section 14 defines a platform structure for locating an individual uncoupled railway freight car thereon. It will be understood that each conveyor 10 with its respective sets of rail sections 14 is movable in such a manner for selectively aligning a rail section 14 with a stationary rail section 16.

Referring to FIG. 2, endless conveyor 10 is operatively connected to a pair of gear units 18. The upper portion of the conveyor 10 employs a series of side-byside arrangement of roller bearings 20 for providing the required support for the movement of a railway freight car positioned on a rail section 14. Conventional power means are provided for operating the conveyors l0. Suitable control means such as an automatically operated micro switch mechanism can selectively control the operation of the power means. The power and control housing are designed by the reference numerals 22 and are located with their respective belt-driving means at the opposite ends of conveyor 10 for coordinated activation to perform the required transfer movement of a freight railway car from one rail section 16 to another.

An example of the operation of the exchange of two railway freight cars X and Y is illustrated in a clockwise manner in FIGS. 3a through 3d, respectively. In FIG. 3a, the freight car X is located on stationary rail section A and the freight car Y is located on stationary rail section B. To begin the transfer, the freight car X is transferred to conveyor C and freight car Y to conveyor D as shown by the respective positions in FIG. 3b. Then, as shown in FIG. 3c, the freight car X is transferred by conveyor C to a location in alignment with rail section B and the freight car Y is transferred by conveyor D to a location in alignment with rail section A. In FIG. 3d, the completion of the transfer exchange of freight cars X and Y is shown.

The invention has been described in detail with particular reference to the preferred embodiment thereof, but it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A device for simultaneously exchanging individual uncoupled railway cars in a direction transverse to the direction of a railway track comprising in combination with a first and second stationary railway track set means wherein said first and second track set means are parallel to each other;

at least two pairs of movably-mounted parallelarranged platform rail track means; endless con- 3 veyor means respectively underlying and supporting each said pair of movably-mounted parallelarranged platform rail track means, each of said conveyor means operatively movable between a first position and a second position, each of said conveyor means when in its first respective position being effective to align one of its parallel pairs of rail track means with the respective stationary track set means to receive an individual uncoupled railway car thereon, each of said conveyor means when operatively moved to its second respective position being effective to locate the first mentioned pair of parallel track means to be in registry way cars transversely from one track to another. 

1. A device for simultaneously exchanging individual uncoupled railway cars in a direction transverse to the direction of a railway track comprising in combination with a first and second stationary railWay track set means wherein said first and second track set means are parallel to each other; at least two pairs of movably-mounted parallel-arranged platform rail track means; endless conveyor means respectively underlying and supporting each said pair of movably-mounted parallel-arranged platform rail track means, each of said conveyor means operatively movable between a first position and a second position, each of said conveyor means when in its first respective position being effective to align one of its parallel pairs of rail track means with the respective stationary track set means to receive an individual uncoupled railway car thereon, each of said conveyor means when operatively moved to its second respective position being effective to locate the first mentioned pair of parallel track means to be in registry with the other respective stationary track set means, each of said conveyor means employing a series of side-by-side arrangement of roller bearings for providing the required support for the movement of an individual uncoupled railway car on its respective rail track means, each of said conveyor means positioned within an underground recess; and means associated with the respective conveyor means to selectively drive and control the simultaneous exchange of individual uncoupled railway cars transversely from one track to another. 